A Cry In The Wilderness To Save Internet/Online Radio!

By Kenny Love


This is a special article to you...not a usual one, whereby, I
attempt to assist you with increasing your music sales, but to
otherwise request your consideration in helping save
Internet/online radio.

No doubt by now, you have heard of the Washington bureaucrats
and the CRB's (Copyright Review Board's) joint effort to revert
us to the Gestapo "Dark Ages" of radio, whereby, we shall, once
again, be relegated to (enjoying?) the limited playlists of
broadcast radio while being unable to get our independent and
unsigned music played.
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"Yes Sir, master radio broadcast radio Music Director. I will
sell my soul to ye for just a wee bit of airplay. Please grant
me three wishes...radio airplay, radio airplay, and radio
airplay. Thank you ever so kindly." - Joe Tentpeg, recording
artist extraordinaire
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I understand that a great number of you have expressed your
dismay with this by voting, of which I applaud you. However,
an even greater number of musicians and recording artists have
not! This can, primarily, be attributed to the old human
nature act that says, "I'll let someone else take care of it
for me because I'm too tired."
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"Excuse me, Sir, but you forgot to open the blade...it works
best when opened." - Musician speaking to a serial killer
holding a knife against his throat.
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This situation needs EVERY vote possible...yours included!

Please do not allow this to happen by NOT voicing your dissent
and discontent because, if you remember, that is one of the
deciding factors that allowed us to receive the blessing of
online radio in the first place.

I should not need to expound on the benefits of online radio,
which range from practically any artist being able to have
his/her music aired without censoring while giving listeners
choices in the types of music they wish to hear.

A Small Bit of Radio History:

A number of you are too young to remember radio in its heyday
as I do, whereby, radio was eclectic in nature...meaning,
diversity in genres on a single station. The experience can
best be compared to a child opening Christmas presents daily
by never knowing what song, genre or artist you were going to
hear next from your favorite station's playlist.

For example, it was normal and very enjoyable to be surprised
with Elton John (Rock), followed by the Ohio Players (R&B),
then Billy Joel (Pop/Easy Listening), and maybe even a bit of
Herbie Hancock (Jazz).

The overall benefit for the listener was the opportunity to
become familiar with multiple genres of music and their
respective artists, thus, broadening the listener's overall
music experience.

However, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and due to
corporate interests (greed), most stations became specialized
with singular formats, followed by limited playlists in the
interests of targeting specific demographics of consumers with
particular products and services.

What began as Top 40 playlists, meaning the top 40 popular and
selling artists, gradually diminished to the Top 30. The last
time I heard, the list was down to the Top 25, and that was a
couple of years ago. I'm now afraid to see what it has been
reduced to...perhaps, the Top 10? Top 5?
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"Forget listeners! We don't care WHAT they want to hear! If
we want their opinion on what music they need to hear, WE, the
radio music gods, shall tell THEM what to listen to!"
- Corporate Greeders
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Due to the reduction of the Top 40 artists to whatever, in
a number of music genres, over time, listeners became
disappointed with hearing the same artists played over, and
over, and over...and, did I say over? I know this firsthand
because I have also served as a radio program producer,
program host, and music director at several broadcast
stations.

As such, Internet/online radio was right on time in the mid
1990s, and listeners quickly embraced it. In fact, online
radio became so prominent that it forced broadcast radio to
start a marketing campaign a couple of years ago in an effort
to save itself by informing its remaining listeners that a
number of stations were reverting to the eclectic format. Is
anyone still surprised at the subsequent sale of Clear Channel
stations?
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Radio: "Oh, my! Our listenership is dwindling! We gotta do
something! Call the police! Call the FBI! Call George Bush!
He'll know what to do...he'll send troops and stop it, for sure!"
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However, this was a case of "too little, too late," which has
now brought us to what we are facing today.

While online radio (currently) continues to thrive as broadcast
stations, simultaneously, continue to lose listeners at an
alarming rate, broadcast radio today can best be described as
a rabid animal that has been forced into a corner and, in a
desperate attempt at survival, is attempting to fight its way
out. Alas, we have the Copyright Review Board and the governing
bodies attempting to throw their weight into the ring of fire.
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Copyright Review Board: "Hmmph! We'll stop this online radio
crap because we make George Bush's military deployment
look like another Vienna Boy's Choir gig in Chicago."
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As such, and again, I implore not only musicians and recording
artists to protect their future through supporting the survival
of Internet/online radio, but for music listeners and music
buyers to do so as well.

Musicians, if you have music fan mailing lists, *please* feel
free to pass along this particular article to them, OR, simply
inform your fans to help save Internet/online radio by going
to the below links:

http://www.congress.org/congressorg/issues/alert/?alertid=9461656&content_dir=ua\
_congressorg&mailid=custom

http://www.digmedia.org/docs/Press%20Release%2010-31-05.pdf

http://www.petitiononline.com/SIR2007r/petition.html

Note: This is a *very* serious and impending situation! Not
just for me...not just for you...but for us all! Do not take it
lightly! In fact, take it beyond your music fans and tell
everyone you know to vote against it!

And, don't just go there and read about it...do something about
it by voicing your disagreement. I'm not asking you to get out
of your chair and go anywhere to do anything. The opportunity
to save a very important tool for your future music career is
right beneath your fingertips, starting with your clicking on
the above links.

If we do not vote to dissuade this unfair act taking place, we
are consenting to our own doom, and shall once again experience
the increased and significant difficulty in getting our music
heard and exposed. Bottom line...if you don't vote, and the
corporate hounds have their way, the blame is as close as your
own mirror.

Thank you,

Kenny Love, Editor
The B# Newsletter ( http://yahoogroups.com/group/bsharpnews )
http://www.myspace.com/thekelgroup
http://www.MuBiz.com